Motorcycle

Columnist Paul Carpenter could not be further from the truth when it comes to loud pipes on motorcycles. I can say firsthand that, while riding down the road and having some cellphone/texting driver drifting into my lane, I can avoid being driven off the road with a flick of my wrist on the throttle to get the distracted driver's attention. Then I no longer have a car drifting into my lane — or myself. It's funny that when we motorcycle riders give back to the community with the many charity runs we participate in that no one seems to complain about loud pipes.

Columnist Paul Carpenter could not be further from the truth when it comes to loud pipes on motorcycles. I can say firsthand that, while riding down the road and having some cellphone/texting driver drifting into my lane, I can avoid being driven off the road with a flick of my wrist on the throttle to get the distracted driver's attention. Then I no longer have a car drifting into my lane — or myself. It's funny that when we motorcycle riders give back to the community with the many charity runs we participate in that no one seems to complain about loud pipes.

A Northampton man allegedly punched a woman in the face Saturday night after she toppled his motorcycle. Brian S. Schaff of the 1000 block of Canal Street hit Jennifer Kurtz twice in the face at 8:49 p.m. after she knocked over his motorcycle, according to court papers. Police said Kurtz was bleeding from her nose and had a swollen left eye. Schaff, 45, was charged with simple assault and harassment. He was sent to Northampton County Prison under $5,000 bail. — JD Malone

An Allentown kindergarten teacher died Wednesday night following a motorcycle crash with a motor vehicle in Lower Macungie Township, the Lehigh County coroner's office said. Gregory Tyson, 47, of Sleepy Hollow Lane in Upper Macungie was pronounced dead at 6:29 p.m. Wednesday at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where he was transported after the crash. The Lehigh County Coroner ruled the manner of death accidental, caused by multiple blunt-force injuries. The accident was reported at 5:50 p.m. at South Church Street and Mountain Road, on the Lower Macungie side of Macungie's southern border.

A Bethlehem woman was slightly injured Sunday night when she lost control of her motorcycle and slid off a rural Upper Bucks road, police said. Kendra Foster, 40, was traveling south in the 1700 block of Old Bethlehem Road, east of Route 212 in Springfield Township, about 8:55 p.m. when she went off the road on a curve and the motorcycle fell over, state police at Dublin said. Foster was taken to St. Luke's University Hospital-Fountain Hill, where she was treated and released.

A Stockertown man whose motorcycle collided with a van at midday Monday in front of Palmer Park Mall died a short time later in Easton Hospital, the Northampton County coroner said. Terry Wegfahrt, 24, was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead not long after 1 p.m., Coroner Zachary Lysek said. Wegfahrt died of multiple traumatic injuries in the accident on Park Avenue, Lysek said. Palmer Township police were investigating the crash.

Two men were injured in Allentown on Tuesday night when the motorcycle they were riding fell over at a street curve, according to police radio reports. One of the men may have suffered a broken ankle or leg in the 9:10 p.m. spill at Fourth and Union streets, police said. Both men were taken by Allentown EMS to the hospital. The 33-year-old driver cut his head and appeared groggy after the crash, emergency workers radioed. His passenger complained of pain near his right ankle.

An East Stroudsburg man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after he crashed his motorcycle on Interstate 80 in Pocono Township Saturday morning, state police at Swiftwater said. Both Jose Vazquez Jr., 27, who was driving the motorcycle, and passenger Ashley Teets, 27, were hurt in the crash, which happened at 2:15 a.m., police said. Police said they found Teets on the road — the crash happened on the westbound side of the road — with injuries. She was taken to Pocono Medical Center for treatment.

A Poconos man supected of several burglaries and the theft of three motorcycles crashed on one of the stolen bikes early Monday when state police signaled for him to pull over, police said. Zekiah B. Harsch, 18, of Saylorsville, was spotted by a trooper on Mount Eaton Road, Ross Township, and flipped over as soon as the trooper tried to bring him to a stop, state police at Lehighton said. Harsch was not reported injured. Harsch, found guilty in September of careless driving, more recently committed several break-ins, thefts from vehicles and the motorcycle thefts, police said.

Q: Area motorcycle traffic is steadily increasing. The standard motorcycle has the handlebars at a level between the operator's shoulder and waist. But some have handlebars raised quite high, requiring operators to steer the vehicles with arms fully extended, above their heads. That seems very awkward, and quite risky. I think it would be much harder to correct one's steering after hitting a pothole or obstacle. Is it even legal to have the handlebars so high? -- Barbara Cousland, Emmaus Q: We recently endured another season of noisy, speeding motorcycles on Vera Cruz Road with little sign of law enforcement action.

Although the 2014 quota for newspaper columns about motorcycles probably has been exceeded already, the angry emailed announcement from Chapel Hill, N.C., was impossible to ignore. As Musikfest was about to begin, the release from Noise Free America assailed Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez (unfairly, it turned out) for his "warm welcome" to a motorcycle rally at the festival. The biker rally is billed as "See the Steel, Hear the Thunder," and the part about thunder is what Noise Free America would just as soon avoid at the music extravaganza, getting underway this weekend in and around what once was one of America's premier steelmaking operations.

A 50-year-old man is facing weapon and drug charges after a search of his motorcycle and his Upper Macungie Township home uncovered a stolen handgun, hallucinogenic mushrooms, methamphetamine and other drugs, according to court records. Terry S. Souders was arrested at 6:20 p.m. Tuesday in the 1100 block of Walter Street, authorities said. He had been the subject of a drug investigation by the Lehigh County Drug Task Force, according to court records. Police said Souders admitted having a 9 mm handgun, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in the saddlebags of his motorcycle and said he had more drugs at his home, according to court records.

A Bedminster Township, Bucks County, man died early Sunday after his motorcycle collided with another vehicle near his home on Saturday night, the Lehigh County coroner's office said. Carl J. Polichetti, 47, of 829 Kellers Church Road, was pronounced dead at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem at 12:15 a.m., about two hours after the accident in front of 712 Kellers Church Road. State police at Dublin are investigating the accident. Additional details were not immediately available.

A motorcycle accident that injured two people Friday afternoon in front of Lehigh Valley Hospital forced police to shut down part of Cedar Crest Boulevard. The accident was reported 4:50 p.m. at the entrance to the hospital on Cedar Crest Boulevard, Salisbury Township, near Interstate 78. The two injured people were taken from the scene while fire police were called in to control traffic and firefighters were dispatched to hose down the road for a gasoline spill. The injured were described as conscious, but no information was available on their conditions.

A 29-year-old man led Allentown police on a pursuit through the city early Sunday before crashing his motorcycle into another vehicle, according to court records. Ricardo J. Streeter of Allentown was seen by an officer at 3:08 a.m. speeding in the area of North 10 t h and Turner streets, according to court records. The officer caught up with Streeter and activated his lights and siren to stop him, according to court records. Streeter fled east on Chestnut Street, police said.

A Lower Saucon Township man was drunk and driving 100 mph when he crashed his motorcycle Sunday in Bethlehem, seriously injuring himself and his passenger, police said. Police said Branden Waugh, 24, of the 1300 block of Seidersville Road, and Waugh's passenger both suffered serious injuries in the crash, which happened around 7 a.m. on Route 378. Passing motorists found Waugh and his passenger bleeding in the middle of the road. Police said Waugh's driver's license had been suspended for drunken driving.

A Montgomery County man was injured when he drove his motorcycle off a Berks County road and hit several trees Saturday afternoon, state police at Reading said. Edward R. Master, 52, of Telford, was taken to Pottstown Hospital after the 1 p.m. crash on Fancy Hill Road in Earl Township, police said. Master's injuries were described as "moderate. " He was wearing a helmet, police said. Investigators say Master was traveling north on Fancy Hill Road and approaching a downhill curve when he lost control of the motorcycle after missing the brake pedal.

OLEY TOWNSHIP, BERKS COUNTY Motorcycle passenger dies after collision with deer A 41-year-old Berks woman died after a motorcycle collided with a deer early Saturday in Oley Township, Berks County, state police at Reading said. Elizabeth McVicker of Fleetwood died at Reading Hospital following the crash, which happened shortly after 3 a.m. The crash occurred about 30 miles southwest of Allentown, police said. McVicker was on a motorcycle driven by David Sharman, 47, of Fleetwood, who suffered what police described as "moderate" injuries.